astrostu
New Member
- Region
- USA
Hi All!
Background: I'm 40 (just turned), male, had a bike when growing up, had three bikes stolen in college, had a bike for the latter half of grad school that I used for exercise around town (Boulder, CO -- very bike-friendly area), then moved up to the mountains with my significant other (their house) in 2013 and the dirt road with 28° grades ≠ me a happy cyclist. A decade later, I spent two hours cleaning my bike, inflating the tires, and taking it into town where I bought it to have a free (lifetime!) checkup (and the guy said that he would be more than happy to sell me lots of stuff including new tires, but really it was in great shape all things considered). I would put the bike in the car, drive down the hill, and bike on the paved road that still had solid hills, for exercise for my overweight self. Come August last year, my dad got a bike for the first time in decades (an ebike, obviously), and I tried it out when I went back to Ohio for his and my mom's 50th wedding anniversary. A Gazelle Ultimate C380+. Fell in love with the Enviolo shifter compared to my $400 bike's gears, and everything else about it was oh-so-smooth. Like, I could not tell when I was on it that the sucker weighed 65 lbs. On Day 10 of him having it, the morning after I tried it, he was killed by a driver while signaling to turn. I haven't ridden since, but ... at some point one does need to move on, and it's been more than 9 months ...
Foreground: So, I'm looking to replace my current bicycle with something in the same class as what he had (pending insurance money might help, but that's a separate and lengthy, ongoing story). My dad was many things, including a good researcher, so my default has simply been to get a duplicate of his Gazelle. Now that 2023 models are out (Gazelle Ultimate C380 HMB), they've beefed it up, improving almost everything but taking it down to a Class 1 from a Class 3; that's not too important to me, though I'm not sure if I like the idea of the middle bar missing entirely. I was just going to push the button, but it looks like the one ebike shop in Boulder doesn't have it in stock. The store that I bought my bike from back circa 2011 (Full Cycle) has a lot of other brands, but not Gazelle. I'm usually not store-loyal, but the fact that I could bring in a bicycle 11 years after buying it and they did a free tune-up and inspection and did not try to sell me a bunch of stuff does engender some good will. However, you have to go down quite a bit in their pricing levels (sort: high to low) before you find a bike with the Enviolo "gear" hub. And they don't sell Gazelle -- they seem to like Specialized Turbo brand. Maybe I could ask if they can order it? I was also thinking I could go in and ask to try out a few of their ebikes that do have the Enviolo.
What I'm Looking For: As noted above, something in the same class as the Gazelle C380 -- extra words / model year removed to be less specific. Enviolo is a must, I feel like that was a game-changer for me, like going from riding in steerage on a trans-Pacific flight to first class, it's so hard to go back ... I WON'T go back! However, searching for the "best ebikes 2023" and opening up a few different sites yields almost zero overlaps. And, only one or two - if any - on any given site's list have the Enviolo hub.
My Use Case(s): The immediate use is to put it in the car, drive it down the 400ft vertical drop dirt road with 28° grades, and ride on the street for exercise. Additional use case is when the significant other drives to Boulder to either swim or go to the gym, we'd put the bike in the car and I'd bike while they do their exercise. (Yes, I understand that "ebike" might be antithetical to "exercise," but there are so many hills here that it's an impediment, and I watch my heart rate closely enough that I know if I need to back off the assist to ensure I'm getting exercise.) Further in the future, the use case could be they'd have a bike, too, we'd pack 'em, and go somewhere like Rocky Mountain National Park, or Estes Park, or almost anywhere else in the area and bike together. Predominantly road. But in a pinch, I'd need to be able to bike on this horrid road I live on, so a city bike with the super-thin tires is out.
Suggestions?
Background: I'm 40 (just turned), male, had a bike when growing up, had three bikes stolen in college, had a bike for the latter half of grad school that I used for exercise around town (Boulder, CO -- very bike-friendly area), then moved up to the mountains with my significant other (their house) in 2013 and the dirt road with 28° grades ≠ me a happy cyclist. A decade later, I spent two hours cleaning my bike, inflating the tires, and taking it into town where I bought it to have a free (lifetime!) checkup (and the guy said that he would be more than happy to sell me lots of stuff including new tires, but really it was in great shape all things considered). I would put the bike in the car, drive down the hill, and bike on the paved road that still had solid hills, for exercise for my overweight self. Come August last year, my dad got a bike for the first time in decades (an ebike, obviously), and I tried it out when I went back to Ohio for his and my mom's 50th wedding anniversary. A Gazelle Ultimate C380+. Fell in love with the Enviolo shifter compared to my $400 bike's gears, and everything else about it was oh-so-smooth. Like, I could not tell when I was on it that the sucker weighed 65 lbs. On Day 10 of him having it, the morning after I tried it, he was killed by a driver while signaling to turn. I haven't ridden since, but ... at some point one does need to move on, and it's been more than 9 months ...
Foreground: So, I'm looking to replace my current bicycle with something in the same class as what he had (pending insurance money might help, but that's a separate and lengthy, ongoing story). My dad was many things, including a good researcher, so my default has simply been to get a duplicate of his Gazelle. Now that 2023 models are out (Gazelle Ultimate C380 HMB), they've beefed it up, improving almost everything but taking it down to a Class 1 from a Class 3; that's not too important to me, though I'm not sure if I like the idea of the middle bar missing entirely. I was just going to push the button, but it looks like the one ebike shop in Boulder doesn't have it in stock. The store that I bought my bike from back circa 2011 (Full Cycle) has a lot of other brands, but not Gazelle. I'm usually not store-loyal, but the fact that I could bring in a bicycle 11 years after buying it and they did a free tune-up and inspection and did not try to sell me a bunch of stuff does engender some good will. However, you have to go down quite a bit in their pricing levels (sort: high to low) before you find a bike with the Enviolo "gear" hub. And they don't sell Gazelle -- they seem to like Specialized Turbo brand. Maybe I could ask if they can order it? I was also thinking I could go in and ask to try out a few of their ebikes that do have the Enviolo.
What I'm Looking For: As noted above, something in the same class as the Gazelle C380 -- extra words / model year removed to be less specific. Enviolo is a must, I feel like that was a game-changer for me, like going from riding in steerage on a trans-Pacific flight to first class, it's so hard to go back ... I WON'T go back! However, searching for the "best ebikes 2023" and opening up a few different sites yields almost zero overlaps. And, only one or two - if any - on any given site's list have the Enviolo hub.
My Use Case(s): The immediate use is to put it in the car, drive it down the 400ft vertical drop dirt road with 28° grades, and ride on the street for exercise. Additional use case is when the significant other drives to Boulder to either swim or go to the gym, we'd put the bike in the car and I'd bike while they do their exercise. (Yes, I understand that "ebike" might be antithetical to "exercise," but there are so many hills here that it's an impediment, and I watch my heart rate closely enough that I know if I need to back off the assist to ensure I'm getting exercise.) Further in the future, the use case could be they'd have a bike, too, we'd pack 'em, and go somewhere like Rocky Mountain National Park, or Estes Park, or almost anywhere else in the area and bike together. Predominantly road. But in a pinch, I'd need to be able to bike on this horrid road I live on, so a city bike with the super-thin tires is out.
Suggestions?
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